I started these Felt ornaments in 2007. They are part of kit I purchased from one of those Fox catalogues. Before I started my Rotation system, I used to stitch them in the month or two before Christmas and it took forever to make any headway.
I'm really loving the rotation system. One of the things I did was set up a sewing bag for each project. I just gathered up all the bits and pieces, put together a small embroidery kit (needles, pincushion, scissors etc) and found a canvas bag. I then needed to clean out the hall cupboard so these 10 project bags would have a place to live. The benefits have been that, if I've got an hour sitting around at piano lessons or tennis, I can grab a project (assuming it isn't a large tapestry on a floor frame!) and take it along and get a bit of work done. I've made so much more headway on these projects. As mentioned previously, I'm really enjoying the variety of stitching as well. And I don't feel at all bogged down with the details.I'm putting things away to start on the next project long before I'm getting frustrated or bored.
The felt comes all pre-stamped and there are detailed instructions and it recommends that you only cut out pieces as you need them. Good plan - otherwise you might end up with thousands of itsy bitsy bits of felt that make no sense. There are two of each santas and I'm doing both versions at the same time. I'm currently working on Mr Red Santa but have already finished Mr Folk Santa with folky black vest and white stars. He's even been on a tree, bringing felty cheer and good tidings. Who knew that Santa needed glasses?
As part of the embroidery, I made the white and black cording by winding white DMC and black DMC together. Kind of fiddly and I'm not sure I really mastered the technique but it's kind of good enough.
